By Jamie Miller
On Thursday, Aug. 28, Grand Rapids Community College hosted several presidential search listening sessions to get feedback on what the campus community wants in the president.
The student session began with an introduction by Erin Van Egmond, Vice President of College Advancement and Executive Director of the GRCC Foundation, who introduced Andrea Cowsert and Shirley Pippins of Academic Search, who were overseeing the session.
The session, attended by fewer than 20 students, focused on what GRCC students want to see from the new president. Among the things mentioned was the desire to have a president who would be on campus and present and willing to meet with student government as the current Interim President Dr. Steven Triezenberg is.
Another person said that she wanted a president who genuinely cared about the community and not just GRCC, saying that you have to care about the community if you’re going to work at a community college, which was a sentiment shared by others.
Another student said he didn’t want a president who wouldn’t be looking for a job elsewhere while serving as GRCC’s president.
GRCC is searching for its 12th president, and the information gathered at the listening sessions will be used by the search firm to recruit a pool of candidates. For more information about the presidential search, go to the GRCC website.
